Method of manufacturing semiconductor device

ABSTRACT

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes forming, on a surface of a semiconductor substrate, an isolation trench including sidewall parts and a bottom part, or a stepped structure including a first planar part, a second planar part, and a step part located at a boundary between the first planar part and the second planar part, and supplying oxidizing ions or nitriding ions contained in plasma generated by a microwave, a radio-frequency wave, or electron cyclotron resonance to the sidewall parts and the bottom part of the isolation trench or the first and second planar parts and the step part of the stepped structure by applying a predetermined voltage to the semiconductor substrate, to perform anisotropic oxidation or anisotropic nitridation of the sidewall parts and the bottom part of the isolation trench or the first and second planar parts and the step part of the stepped structure.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority fromthe prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-85812, filed on Mar. 28,2008, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing asemiconductor device.

2. Background Art

Conventionally, a semiconductor device is manufactured, for example,through the following process. A tunnel insulating film, a polysiliconlayer doped with impurities for a floating gate electrode, a stopperfilm for CMP (Chemical Mechanical Polishing), and a mask film for RIE(Reactive Ion Etching) are sequentially deposited on the surface of asemiconductor substrate, which is doped with desired impurities.

The mask film, the stopper film, the polysilicon layer, and the tunnelinsulating film are sequentially etched by RIE.

Furthermore, an exposed region of the semiconductor substrate is etchedto form an isolation trench.

A silicon oxide film is formed on the exposed surface of thesemiconductor substrate by thermal oxidation, and another silicon oxidefilm is further deposited on the entire surface, to completely bury thesilicon oxide film in the isolation trench. The silicon oxide film andthe mask film are removed by CMP to planarize the surface, to make thesurface of the stopper film be exposed.

After selectively removing the stopper film by etching, the exposedsurface of the silicon oxide film is etched using a diluted hydrofluoricacid solution, to make the sidewall surfaces of the polysilicon layer beexposed.

After an inter electrode insulating film with a three-layer structureincluding a silicon oxide film, a silicon nitride film, and a siliconoxide film is deposited on the entire surface, a conductive layer with atwo-layer structure including a polysilicon layer and a tungstensilicide layer is deposited, and a mask film for RIE is then deposited.The conductive layer is to be etched to form a control gate electrode.In this specification, layers in each multi-layer structure aredescribed in order from the lowest layer to the highest layer.

The mask film, the conductive layer, the inter electrode insulatingfilm, and the polysilicon layer are sequentially etched by RIE, to forma slit part between stacked cells, the slit part extending in adirection perpendicular to the isolation trench. Thereby, the shapes ofthe floating gate electrode and the control gate electrode aredetermined.

After forming a silicon oxide film on the exposed surface by thermaloxidation as an electrode sidewall oxide film, a cell diffusion layer isformed, and a silicon oxide film is then formed as an inter layerdielectric so as to cover the entire surface. Subsequently, aninterconnect layer and the like are formed to complete nonvolatilememory cells. However, this manufacturing method has the followingproblems.

(a) As nonvolatile memory cells become finer, the reliability of thememory cells will be significantly lowered due to the cell width(channel width) in the word-line direction (channel-width direction)becoming smaller. Accordingly, if oxidation performed for mending RIEprocess damage before filling the isolation trenches with the siliconoxide film is performed by isotropic oxidation such as thermaloxidation, the cell width becomes excessively small, lowering thereliability of the memory cells. Concurrently, the dopant concentrationis lowered due to the dopant in the channel regions being drawn into theoxide film as a result of thermal oxidation of the sidewalls of thesemiconductor substrate, causing erroneous writing in the memory cells.

Also, where the memory cells become finer, resulting in a decrease inthe isolation trench width, if the isolation trenches are substantiallycompletely filled with an insulating film, parasitic capacitancesbetween adjacent elements cannot be ignored because they may causeerroneous memory operation, which is what is called “inter-cellinterference”. Accordingly, it is necessary to provide cavities in theisolation trenches. However, in case that an insulating film is providedinto the isolation trenches by means of deposition, it is difficult toform cavities having the same shape because of difficulty in depositingthe insulating film on the sidewall parts of the isolation trenches.

(b) In nonvolatile memory cells, when a polysilicon layer is processedby RIE to form floating gate electrodes, the lower end parts of thefloating gate electrodes are formed in a pointed shape, locallygenerating a high electric field during writing/erasing operation forthe memory cells, resulting in lowering the reliability of the memorycells. Therefore, the locally-generated high electric field is reducedby forming a silicon oxide film, which is an electrode sidewall oxidefilm, by thermal oxidation to increase the distance between the lowerend part of each floating gate electrode and the semiconductor substratesurface and also increase the curvature of the lower end parts of thefloating gate electrodes. However, as the memory cells become finer, theoxidation amount in the sidewall parts of the floating gate electrodes,which are formed by thermal oxidation, cannot be ignored and the cellwidth (channel length) in the bit-line direction (channel-lengthdirection) becomes excessively small, making the control of the memorycell characteristics difficult, causing erroneous memory operation.

Furthermore, as the memory cells become finer, when a polysilicon layeris processed by RIE to form floating gate electrodes, there is atendency that the width of the floating gate electrodes becomes widertoward their lower parts (i.e., has what is called a skirt shape).Accordingly, the lower end parts of the floating gate electrodes areformed in a sharply pointed shape, which is a factor promoting thelowering of the cell reliability.

(c) Transistor elements also have a problem similar to problem (b),which is a factor of lowering the transistor reliability.(d) In nonvolatile memory cells, when the control gate electrodes areformed by a metal, a metal silicide or a metal nitride such as tungstensilicide, nickel silicide, cobalt silicide, tungsten, tantalum,titanium, tungsten nitride, tantalum nitride or titanium nitride, thefollowing problems are caused. A mask film, a conductive layer, an interelectrode insulating film and a polysilicon layer are sequentiallyprocessed by RIE to form slit parts between the stacked cells, therebydetermining the shapes of the floating gate electrodes and the controlgate electrodes. When a silicon oxide film, which is called an electrodesidewall oxide film, is formed on the exposed surface by thermaloxidation, oxidation of the metal, the metal silicide or the metalnitride are accelerated, causing a problem in a decrease in conductivityof the control gate electrodes. Also, expansion caused by oxidation hasadverse effects on the subsequent diffusion layer formation process byion implantation.(e) Also, transistor elements using a metal, a metal silicide or a metalnitride for gate electrodes have a problem similar to that of thenonvolatile memory cells described in (d) above.(f) In nonvolatile memory cells, where the inter electrode insulatingfilm is formed of a high-permittivity metal oxide film containingoxygen, such as alumina, hafnia, zirconia, aluminum silicate, hafniumsilicate or zirconium silicate instead of the three-layer structureconsisting of a silicon oxide film, a silicon nitride film and a siliconoxide film, the following problem is caused. When, in the process offorming a silicon oxide film, which is called an electrode sidewalloxide film, on the exposed surface by thermal oxidation aftersequentially processing the mask film, the conductive layer, the interelectrode insulating film and the polysilicon layer by RIE to form slitparts between the stacked cells, thereby determining the shapes of thefloating gate electrodes and the control gate electrodes, the thermaloxidation is performed in an atmosphere including a reducing gas such asa hydrogen gas, a reaction to abstract oxygen from the inter electrodeinsulating film occurs, causing deterioration in the insulation propertyof the inter electrode insulating film.(g) In some nonvolatile memories, peripheral transistors are formed on aplanar part of a semiconductor substrate and memory cells are formed ona partial SOI (Silicon on Insulator) substrate of the same semiconductorsubstrate. In such a case, a step part is formed at the boundary betweenthe planar part and the partial SOI substrate by etching.Conventionally, both the planar part and a sidewall providing the steppart are then oxidized by thermal oxidation.

Subsequently, even though the sidewall oxide film is removed by etching,the position of the step part is displaced as a result of oxidation andetching. This position corresponds to the boundary between theperipheral transistors and the memory cells, and is used as a referencefor pattern formation. Consequently, displacement of this positioncauses pattern displacement.

A conventional nonvolatile memory cell manufacturing method is disclosedin, for example, JP-A 2006-222203 (KOKAI).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An aspect of the present invention is, for example, a method ofmanufacturing a semiconductor device, the method including forming, on asurface of a semiconductor substrate, an isolation trench includingsidewall parts and a bottom part, or a stepped structure including afirst planar part, a second planar part, and a step part located at aboundary between the first planar part and the second planar part, andsupplying oxidizing ions or nitriding ions contained in plasma generatedby a microwave, a radio-frequency wave, or electron cyclotron resonanceto the sidewall parts and the bottom part of the isolation trench or thefirst and second planar parts and the step part of the stepped structureby applying a predetermined voltage to the semiconductor substrate, toperform anisotropic oxidation or anisotropic nitridation of the sidewallparts and the bottom part of the isolation trench or the first andsecond planar parts and the step part of the stepped structure.

Another aspect of the present invention is, for example, a method ofmanufacturing a semiconductor device, the method including forming agate insulation film on a semiconductor substrate, forming a conductivefilm as a material for a gate electrode, on the gate insulation film,etching the conductive film to form the gate electrode includingsidewall parts, and make a part of a surface of the gate insulation filmbe exposed, and supplying oxidizing ions or nitriding ions contained inplasma generated by a microwave, a radio-frequency wave, or electroncyclotron resonance to the sidewall parts of the gate electrode and aregion where the gate insulation film is exposed, by applying apredetermined voltage to the semiconductor substrate, to performanisotropic oxidation or anisotropic nitridation of the sidewall partsof the gate electrode and the region where the gate insulation film isexposed.

Another aspect of the present invention is, for example, a method ofmanufacturing a semiconductor device, the method including forming afirst film to be processed, on a semiconductor substrate, forming asecond film to be processed, on the first film, removing a predeterminedregion of the second film by etching, to form a slit part includingsidewall parts and a bottom part, the sidewall parts including sidesurfaces of the second film, and the bottom part including an uppersurface of the first film, and supplying oxidizing ions or nitridingions contained in plasma generated by a microwave, a radio-frequencywave, or electron cyclotron resonance to the sidewall parts and thebottom part of the slit part by applying a predetermined voltage to thesemiconductor substrate, to perform anisotropic oxidation or anisotropicnitridation of the sidewall parts and the bottom part of the slit part.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an arrangement of amanufacturing equipment in performing anisotropic oxidation oranisotropic nitridation, which is to be used in manufacturing asemiconductor device according to first to ninth embodiments;

FIGS. 2 to 9 are longitudinal cross sectional views showing a method ofmanufacturing a semiconductor device according to a first embodiment;

FIGS. 10 and 11 are longitudinal cross sectional views showing a methodof manufacturing a semiconductor device according to comparative example1 for the first embodiment;

FIGS. 12 and 13 are longitudinal cross sectional views showing a methodof manufacturing a semiconductor device according to modification 1 forthe first embodiment;

FIGS. 14 and 15 are longitudinal cross sectional views showing a methodof manufacturing a semiconductor device according to comparative example2 for the first embodiment;

FIG. 16 is a longitudinal cross sectional view showing a method ofmanufacturing a semiconductor device according to a second embodiment;

FIG. 17 is a longitudinal cross sectional view showing a method ofmanufacturing a semiconductor device according to comparative example 3for the second embodiment;

FIG. 18 is a longitudinal cross sectional view showing a method ofmanufacturing a semiconductor device according to modification 2 for thesecond embodiment;

FIG. 19 is a longitudinal cross sectional view showing a method ofmanufacturing a semiconductor device according to comparative example 4for modification 2 for the second embodiment;

FIGS. 20 to 23 are longitudinal cross sectional views showing a methodof manufacturing a semiconductor device according to a third embodiment;

FIG. 24 is a longitudinal cross sectional view showing a method ofmanufacturing a semiconductor device according to a fourth embodiment;

FIGS. 25 to 28 are longitudinal cross sectional views showing a methodof manufacturing a semiconductor device according to a fifth embodiment;

FIGS. 29 to 32 are longitudinal cross sectional views showing a methodof manufacturing a semiconductor device according to a sixth embodiment;

FIGS. 33 to 37 are longitudinal cross sectional views showing a methodof manufacturing a semiconductor device according to a seventhembodiment;

FIGS. 38 to 43 are longitudinal cross sectional views showing a methodof manufacturing a semiconductor device according to an eighthembodiment; and

FIGS. 44 to 47 are longitudinal cross sectional views showing a methodof manufacturing a semiconductor device according to a ninth embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of a method of manufacturing a semiconductor deviceaccording to the present invention will be described with reference tothe drawings.

In the embodiments described below, a semiconductor device ismanufactured using anisotropic oxidation or anisotropic nitridation. Asillustrated in FIG. 1, a semiconductor substrate 1 is mounted on a stage2. A predetermined radio-frequency voltage V is applied from a powersupply 3 to the stage 2, thereby the radio-frequency voltage beingapplied to the semiconductor substrate 1.

When plasma 4 is generated by at least any one of microwaves,radio-frequency waves and electron cyclotron resonance after introducingan oxygen-containing gas above the semiconductor substrate 1 in thisstate, oxidizing ions, oxidizing neutral radicals, electrons, etc., aregenerated. Here, the oxidizing ions include, e.g., positively- ornegatively-charged oxygen molecules (O₂), oxygen atoms (O) and ozone(O₃). Alternatively, where a nitrogen-containing gas is introducedtogether with the oxygen-containing gas, the oxidizing ions alsoinclude, e.g., positively- or negatively-charged nitrogen monoxidemolecules (NO) and nitrous oxide molecules (N₂O). Then, by properlyselecting the absolute value of the radio-frequency voltage V applied tothe semiconductor substrate 1, these oxidizing ions contained in theplasma 4 are accelerated toward the semiconductor substrate 1, andsubstantially perpendicularly enter the surface of the semiconductorsubstrate 1.

Here, a large amount of oxidizing ions is supplied to the parts parallelto the surface of the semiconductor substrate 1, and a relatively smallamount of oxidizing ions is supplied to the area perpendicular to thesurface of the semiconductor substrate 1. Consequently, anisotropicoxidation in which the parts parallel to the surface of thesemiconductor substrate 1 has a large amount of oxidation and the partsperpendicular to the surface of the semiconductor substrate 1 has arelatively small amount of oxidation can be provided.

Similarly, plasma 4 is generated by at least any one of microwaves,radio-frequency waves and electron cyclotron resonance after introducinga nitrogen-containing gas above the semiconductor substrate 1, nitridingions, nitriding neutral radicals, electrons, etc., are generated. Here,the nitriding ions include, e.g., positively- or negatively-chargednitrogen molecules (N₂) and nitrogen atoms (N). Alternatively, where anoxygen-containing gas is introduced together with thenitrogen-containing gas, the nitriding ions also include, e.g.,positively- or negatively-charged nitrogen monoxide molecules (NO) andnitrous oxide molecules (N₂O). Then, by properly selecting the absolutevalue of the radio-frequency voltage V applied to the semiconductorsubstrate 1, these nitriding ions contained in the plasma 4 areaccelerated toward the semiconductor substrate 1 and substantiallyperpendicularly enter the surface of the semiconductor substrate 1.

Here, a large amount of nitriding ions is supplied to the parts parallelto the surface of the semiconductor substrate 1, and a relatively smallamount of nitriding ions is supplied to the parts perpendicular to thesemiconductor substrate 1. Consequently, anisotropic nitridation inwhich the parts parallel to the surface of the semiconductor substrate 1has a large amount of nitridation and the parts perpendicular to thesurface of the semiconductor substrate 1 has a relatively small amountof nitridation can be provided.

In the above-described anisotropic oxidation or anisotropic nitridation,it is desirable that the pressure in the region in which the plasma 4 isgenerated should be, for example, 2 kPa or less. A lower pressure, whichprovides a higher ratio of generation of oxidizing ions or nitridingions, is desirable because more conspicuous anisotropic oxidation oranisotropic nitridation can be provided. Furthermore, it is desirablethat the pressure of the supply path of oxidizing ions or nitriding ionsshould be lowered to, for example, 2 kPa or less because the mean freepath of the oxidizing ions or nitriding ions is lengthened, andaccordingly, even where deep trenches are formed in the semiconductorsubstrate 1, a sufficient amount of oxidizing ions or nitriding ions canbe supplied to the bottom parts of the trenches. Also, the temperatureof the semiconductor substrate 1 can be set within the range of, forexample, room temperature to around 800° C. Here, it is desirable thatthe temperature of the semiconductor substrate 1 should be, for example,300° C. or more because it enhances the insulation property of the oxidefilm or nitride film to be formed and enables reduction of formationtime.

(1) First Embodiment

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to a firstembodiment of the present invention will be described. The firstembodiment corresponds to an example of applying the present inventionto a nonvolatile memory.

First, as illustrated in FIG. 2, after forming a tunnel insulating film11 with a thickness of 10 nm on the surface of a silicon substrate 1doped with a desired impurity, by thermal oxidation, a polysilicon layer12 with a thickness of 150 nm, the polysilicon layer 12 being doped withphosphorus and becoming floating gate electrodes, a stopper film 13 usedfor CMP (Chemical Mechanical Polishing), and a mask film 14 used forperforming RIE (Reactive Ion Etching) are sequentially deposited byreduced-pressure CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition).

Next, RIE using a resist mask (not shown), the mask film 14, the stopperfilm 13, the polysilicon layer 12 and the tunnel insulating film 11 aresequentially etched. Furthermore, exposed regions of the semiconductorsubstrate 1 are etched, and as illustrated in FIG. 3, isolation trenches15 (only one of which is shown) with a depth of 150 nm, each isolationtrench 15 having sidewall parts and a bottom part are formed.

Next, as illustrated in FIG. 4, a silicon oxide film is formed on thepart of the semiconductor substrate 1 whose surface is exposed in theisolation trench 15, by means of the aforementioned anisotropicoxidation. By means of microwaves, radio-frequency waves or electroncyclotron resonance, oxidizing neutral radicals, oxidizing ions andelectrons are generated, and a radio-frequency voltage of, for example,10 to 100 V is applied to the semiconductor substrate 1 to make theoxidizing ions be accelerated toward the surface of the semiconductorsubstrate 1 and substantially perpendicularly enter the surface of thesemiconductor substrate 1.

Consequently, the bottom part of the isolation trench 15 is selectivelyoxidized, forming a relatively thick silicon oxide film 21. Meanwhile,oxidation of sidewall parts 1 a of the isolation trench 15 and thesidewall parts of the floating gate electrodes 12 is suppressed, forminga relatively thin silicon oxide film 22. Here, the silicon oxide film 21has an average thickness of around 5 nm, and the silicon oxide film 22has an average thickness of around 3 nm. Here, although the siliconoxide film 22 is formed also on the sidewall parts of the tunnelinsulating film 11, the sidewall parts of the stopper film 13 and theupper surface part of the stopper film 13 in FIG. 4, it may not beformed on them depending on their materials.

In the step shown in FIG. 2, the deposition of the stopper film 13 maybe omitted. In this case, in the step shown in FIG. 3, the polysiliconlayer 12 can be used as a stopper. The omission of the deposition of thestopper film 13 makes the etching process by RIE to be performed easier.

In conventionally-used thermal oxidation, which will be described later,the silicon oxide film on the sidewall parts and the silicon oxide filmon the bottom part of the isolation trenches are formed to have thesubstantially same thickness. More specifically, the thermal oxidationrate varies depending on the crystal plane orientation of the siliconsubstrate, and accordingly, when an ordinary (100) substrate is used,the thickness of the sidewall parts becomes larger by about 10 to 20%.Meanwhile, the anisotropic oxidation according to the first embodimentenables the thickness of the silicon oxide film 22 on the sidewall partsto be reduced to be around half the film thickness on the bottom part.Accordingly, process damage in the bottom parts of the isolationtrenches 15 due to RIE can be removed with almost no reduction of thewidth (channel length) of the semiconductor substrate 1 between theisolation trenches 15. Consequently, punch-through can be effectivelysuppressed without deterioration of the reliability of the memory cells.

In other words, when process damage remains, a current flows by theinfluence of the surface potential, resulting in punch-through easilyoccurring. However, punch-through can be suppressed by forming thesilicon oxide film 22 to be thick on the bottom parts to remove theprocess damage.

Also, in a nonvolatile memory, suppression of oxidation of the sidewallparts 1 a of the semiconductor substrate 1 enables suppression of adecrease in the dopant concentration at the channel edges andsuppression of fluctuation in a boost ratio β, and consequently,erroneous memory operation can effectively be avoided. Morespecifically, as a result of reducing the thickness of the silicon oxidefilm 22 formed on the sidewall parts 1 a, the width of channel edgeregions 1 b whose dopant concentration has been lowered due to thedopant (such as boron) being drawn into the silicon oxide film 22.

Here, the boost ratio β is approximately expressed as follows.

β=Cins/(Cins+Cch)

provided that Cins=Cipd*Ctnl/(Cipd+Ctnl),

wherein Cipd is the capacitance of the inter electrode insulating film,

Ctnl is the capacitance of the tunnel insulating film,

Cins is the series capacitance of Cipd and Ctnl, and

Cch is the capacitance of the channel.

Furthermore, when the anisotropic oxidation according to the firstembodiment is performed under the substrate temperature of 300° C. orhigher, the silicon oxide films 21 and 22 exhibit good insulationproperty similar to or better than that of a conventional thermal oxidefilm, thereby a good breakdown resistance of the isolation and a goodreliability of the memory cells are achieved.

Subsequently, as in ordinary manufacturing methods, as illustrated inFIGS. 5( a) and 5(b), a silicon oxide film 31 with a thickness of 400nm, which is an insulating film for isolation, is deposited on theentire surface by plasma CVD to completely fill the isolation trench 15.Here, FIGS. 5( a), 6(a), 7(a) and 8(a) correspond to cross-sectionalviews in the bit-line (channel-length) direction, and FIGS. 5( b), 6(b),7(b) and 8(b) correspond to cross-sectional views in the word-line(channel-width) direction. Also, in FIGS. 5( a) and 5(b) to 8(a) and8(b), an illustration of the silicon oxide films 21 and 22 and thechannel edge regions 1 b in FIG. 4 is omitted.

The silicon oxide film 31 and the mask film 14 at the surface part areremoved by CMP to planarize the surface. Here, the surface of thestopper film 13 is exposed.

Next, as illustrated in FIGS. 6( a) and 6(b), after selectively removingthe exposed stopper film 13 by etching, the exposed surface of thesilicon oxide film 31 are removed by etching using a dilutedhydrofluoric acid solution to make the sidewall parts of the polysiliconlayer 12 be exposed. It is assumed that the height of the exposedsidewall parts is 70 nm.

Next, as illustrated in FIGS. 7( a) and 7(b), an inter electrodeinsulating film 32 with a thickness of 15 nm, the inter electrodeinsulating film 32 having a three-layer structure consisting of asilicon oxide film, a silicon nitride film and a silicon oxide film isformed on the entire surface by sequentially depositing these films byreduced-pressure CVD. Furthermore, a conductive layer 33 with athickness of 100 nm, the conductive layer 33 having a two-layerstructure consisting of a polysilicon layer and a tungsten silicidelayer and becoming control gate electrodes, is formed by sequentiallydepositing the polysilicon layer and the tungsten silicide layer byreduced-pressure CVD. A mask film 34 for RIE is further deposited byreduced-pressure CVD.

Next, by means of RIE using a resist mask (not shown), the mask film 34,the conductive layer 33, the inter electrode insulating film 32 and thepolysilicon layer 12 are sequentially etched to form slit parts 38between the stacked cells. Consequently, the shapes of the floating gateelectrodes 12 and the control gate electrodes 33 are determined. Thetunnel insulating film 11 is an example of a first film to be processedin the present invention, and a film including the polysilicon layer 12,the inter electrode insulating film 32, and the conductive layer 33 isan example of a second film to be processed in the present invention.

Next, as illustrated in FIGS. 8( a) and 8(b), a silicon oxide film 35with a thickness of 10 nm, which is called an electrode sidewall oxidefilm, is formed on the exposed surface using the aforementionedanisotropic oxidation, and then a cell diffusion layer 39 is formedusing ion implantation. Furthermore, a silicon oxide film 36 and asilicon oxide 37, which serve as an inter layer dielectric, are formedby reduced-pressure CVD so as to cover the entire surface. Aninterconnect layer (not shown) and the like are formed through thesubsequent process to complete nonvolatile memory cells.

Here, FIG. 9 is a more detailed illustration of the structure at thestage of the silicon oxide film 35 having been formed by anisotropicoxidation in the cross-section illustrated in FIG. 8( a). Oxidation ofthe sidewall parts of the floating gate electrode 12 and the controlgate electrode 33 is suppressed to make the silicon oxide film 35 a onthose parts be thin, and the upper region 35 b of the tunnel insulatingfilm 11 exposed on the bottom region in the slit parts 38 is selectivelyoxidized to effectively improve the quality of the tunnel insulatingfilm 11 near the lower end of the floating gate electrode 12, the tunnelinsulating film having RIE damage. Consequently, the reliability of thememory cells can be improved while suppressing a decrease in cell width(channel length) in the bit-line direction (channel length direction).Here, although FIG. 9 illustrates the case where the upper region of thetunnel insulating film 11 is selectively oxidized, regions to beselectively oxidized can be also extended to the surface parts of thesilicon substrate 1 of the slit parts, by performing the anisotropicoxidation longer or at higher temperature, or changing the material ofthe tunnel insulating film to such a material that is easily oxidized.In this case, the distance between the lower end parts of the floatinggate electrodes 12 and the surface of the silicon substrate 1 can beincreased, and accordingly, the electric field is reduced, enablingfurther enhancement of the reliability of the memory cells.

Although in FIG. 9, the silicon oxide film 35 a is formed also on thesidewall parts of the inter electrode insulating film 32, the sidewallparts of the mask film 34 and the upper surface part of the mask film34, it may not be formed on them depending on their materials.

(2) Comparative Example 1 for the First Embodiment

In a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according tocomparative example 1, silicon oxide films are formed by isotropicthermal oxidation, which is different from the first embodiment.Accordingly, as illustrated in FIG. 10, which corresponds to FIG. 4 inthe first embodiment, the thickness of a silicon oxide film 122 formedon the sidewalls of a semiconductor substrate 101 a is made to be asthick as that of the silicon oxide film 121 formed at the bottom partsof isolation trenches 15, making the cell width (channel width) besmall. Here, although in FIG. 10, the silicon oxide film 122 is formedalso on the sidewall parts of a tunnel insulating film 11, the sidewallparts of a stopper film 13 and the upper parts of the stopper film 13,it may not be formed on them depending on their materials.

Furthermore, during forming the silicon oxide film 122, a large amountof dopant in the semiconductor substrate 101 a is drawn out, and as aresult, the width of the channel edges 101 b having a decreasedconcentration is widened, and the decrease in dopant concentration inthe channel regions causes erroneous writing in the cells.

Furthermore, in comparative example 1, in the process illustrated inFIG. 11, which corresponds to FIG. 9 in the first embodiment, a siliconoxide film is formed by isotropic thermal oxidation. Accordingly, thethickness of the silicon oxide film 135 a on the sidewalls of thefloating gate electrodes 12, the inter electrode insulating film 32 aand the control gate electrodes 33 are made to be as thick as that ofthe silicon oxide film 135 b on the bottom surface of the slit parts 38,making the cell width (channel length) be small. Here, although in FIG.11, the upper layer parts of the tunnel insulating film 11 are oxidized,the oxidation may extend to the surface parts of the silicon substrate 1at the slit part regions depending on the material of the tunnelinsulating film. Also, the silicon oxide film 35 a is formed also on thesidewall parts of the inter electrode insulating film 32, the sidewallparts of the mask film 34 and the upper parts of the mask film 34, itmay not be formed on them depending on their materials.

(3) Modification 1 for the First Embodiment

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according tomodification 1 for the first embodiment will be described. Modification1 corresponds to an example of applying the present invention to anonvolatile memory.

As illustrated in FIG. 12, through the process steps illustrated inFIGS. 2 and 3 in the first embodiment, a tunnel insulating film 11 witha thickness of 10 nm, a polysilicon layer 12 with a thickness of 150 nm,the polysilicon layer 12 being doped with phosphorus, a stopper film 13and a mask film 14 are sequentially deposited by means ofreduced-pressure CVD on the surface of a semiconductor substrate 1 dopedwith a desired impurity. Next, the mask film 14, the stopper film 13,the polysilicon layer 12 and the tunnel insulating film 11 aresequentially etched, and furthermore, the exposed regions of thesemiconductor substrate 1 are processed by RIE to form isolationtrenches 15 (only one of which is shown) with a depth of 150 nm, eachhaving sidewall parts and a bottom part. Here, the RIE-processconditions are adjusted so that the width of the isolation trench 15 isdecreased toward the bottom part (i.e., so that the part 1 a of thesemiconductor substrate 1 protruding between the isolation trenches 15has a skirt shape in cross-section). Consequently, the isolation trench15 can easily be filled with an insulating film for isolation.

Next, as in the first embodiment, oxidizing ions are generated bymicrowaves, radio-frequency waves or electron cyclotron resonance and aradio-frequency voltage of, for example, 10 to 100 V is applied to thesemiconductor substrate 1.

Consequently, the oxidizing ions substantially perpendicularly enter thesemiconductor substrate 1. As a result, the bottom part of the isolationtrench 15 is selectively oxidized, forming a relatively thick siliconoxide film 21. Meanwhile, oxidation of the upper part region of sidewallparts 1 a of the isolation trench 15 and the sidewall parts of thefloating gate electrode 12 is suppressed, forming a relatively thinsilicon oxide film 22. The thickness of the silicon oxide film 22 fromthe upper part region to the lower part region of the sidewall parts 1 aof the isolation trench 15 gradually increases according to the degreeof the shirt shape. Here, although in FIG. 12, the thin silicon oxidefilm 22 is not formed on the sidewall parts of the tunnel insulatingfilm 11, it may be formed on them depending on the material. Also,although the silicon oxide film 22 is formed also on the sidewall partsof the stopper film 13 and the upper surface parts of the stopper film13, it may not be formed on them depending on the material.

As described above, as a result of forming the silicon oxide films 21and 22 using anisotropic oxidation, RIE-process damage at the bottomparts of the isolation trenches 15 can be removed with almost nodecrease in the width (channel width) of the upper part regions of thesemiconductor substrate 1 between the isolation trenches 15 as in thefirst embodiment. Consequently, punch-through can be suppressed withoutdeterioration of the cell reliability. Furthermore, an increase in thedistance between the lower part regions of adjacent protruding parts 1 aof the semiconductor substrate provides a punch-through suppressioneffect.

Also, in a nonvolatile memory, as a result of suppressing oxidation ofthe sidewall parts of the protruding parts 1 a, drawing-out of thedopant from the channel edges 1 b is suppressed, enabling suppression offluctuation in the boost ratio.

Furthermore, when the anisotropic oxidation according to the firstembodiment is performed under the substrate temperature of 300° C. orhigher, the silicon oxide films 21 and 22 exhibit good insulationproperty similar to or better than that of a conventional thermal oxidefilm, thereby a good breakdown resistance of the isolation and a goodreliability of the memory cells are achieved.

Subsequently, as in the first embodiment, a silicon oxide film 31, whichis an insulating film for isolation, is deposited by plasma CVD tocompletely fill the isolation trench 15 as illustrated in FIGS. 5( a)and 5(b). The silicon oxide film 31 and the mask film 14 at the surfacepart are removed by CMP to planarize the surface. Consequently, thesurface of the stopper film 13 is exposed. In the cross-sectionsillustrated in FIGS. 5( a) and 5(b) to 8(a) and 8(b), the protrudingpart 1 a of the semiconductor substrate does not have a skirt shape incross section. However, in modification 1, it is assumed that theprotruding part 1 a has a skirt shape in cross section as describedabove.

Next, as illustrated in FIGS. 6( a) and 6(b), the exposed stopper film13 is selectively removed by etching, and the exposed surface of thesilicon oxide film 31 is removed by etching using a diluted hydrofluoricacid solution to make the sidewall surfaces of the polysilicon layer 12be exposed.

Next, as illustrated in FIGS. 7( a) and 7(b), an inter electrodeinsulating film 32 with a thickness of 15 nm, the inter electrodeinsulating film 32 having a three-layer structure consisting of asilicon oxide film, a silicon nitride film and a silicon oxide film isformed over the entire surface by sequentially depositing these films byreduced-pressure CVD. A conductive layer 33 with a thickness of 100 nm,the conductive layer 33 having a two-layer structure consisting of apolysilicon layer and a tungsten silicide layer and becoming controlgate electrodes, is formed by sequentially depositing these films byreduced-pressure CVD. A mask film 34 for RIE is deposited byreduced-pressure CVD.

Next, the mask film 34, the conductive layer 33, the inter electrodeinsulating film 32 and the polysilicon layer 12 are sequentiallyprocessed by RIE to form slit parts 38 between the stacked cells.

Next, as illustrated in FIGS. 8( a) and 8(b), a silicon oxide film 35with a thickness of 10 nm, which is called an electrode sidewall oxidefilm, is formed on the exposed surface using anisotropic oxidation, andthen a cell diffusion layer 39 is formed using ion implantation.Furthermore, a silicon oxide film 36, which serves an inter layerdielectric, is formed by reduced-pressure CVD so as to cover the entiresurface. Subsequently, an interconnect layer 37, etc., is formed byknown methods to complete nonvolatile memory cells.

Here, FIG. 13 is a more detailed illustration of the structure at thestage of the silicon oxide films 35 a, 35 b and 35 c having been formedby anisotropic oxidation in the cross-section illustrated in FIG. 8( a).In modification 1, the RIE-process conditions are adjusted so that thewidth of the floating gate electrodes 12, which consist of thepolysilicon layer, increases toward the lower parts (i.e., so that thefloating gate electrodes 12 have a skirt shape in cross-section), whichis different from FIG. 9 illustrating the cross-section in the firstembodiment.

In this case, also, as in the first embodiment, oxidation of thesidewall parts of the floating gate electrodes 12 and the control gateelectrodes 33 is suppressed, enabling the thickness of the silicon oxidefilm 35 a on these parts to be thin, and the bottom parts of the slitparts 38 and the skirt shape parts of the lower end parts of thefloating gate electrodes 12 are selectively oxidized, enabling thethickness of the silicon oxide films 35 b and 35 c on these parts to bethick. In particular, although the lower ends of the floating gateelectrodes 12 form sharp angles, resulting in enlargement of an electricfield during writing/erasing operation for the memory cells, suchelectric field enlargement can be suppressed by forming the siliconoxide film 35 c on these parts to be thick. Consequently, thereliability of the memory cells can be improved. Here, although FIG. 13illustrates the case where the tunnel insulating film 11 in the slitparts 38 is entirely oxidized down to its interface with the siliconsubstrate 1, only the surface parts of the tunnel insulating film 11 maybe partially oxidized, by performing the anisotropic oxidation shorteror at lower temperature, or changing the material of the tunnelinsulating film to such a material that is not easily oxidized. Also,although the silicon oxide film 35 a is formed also on the sidewallparts of the inter electrode insulating film 32, the sidewall parts ofthe mask film 34 and the upper parts of the mask film 34, it may not beformed on them depending on their materials.

(4) Comparative Example 2 for Modification 1 for the First Embodiment

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according tocomparative example 2 for modification 1 for the first embodiment willbe described.

As illustrated in FIG. 14, in comparative example 2, silicon oxide films121 and 122 are formed by performing not anisotropic oxidation, butisotropic oxidation using thermal oxidation. In this method, the siliconoxide film 122 having a thickness substantially equal to that of thesilicon oxide film 121 on the bottom parts of isolation trenches 15 areformed on the sidewall parts of protruding parts 101 a of asemiconductor substrate 101. Consequently, the width of the protrudingparts of the silicon substrate becomes smaller at the bottom parts ofthe isolation trenches 15, causing punch-through. Here, although in FIG.14, the silicon oxide film 122 is not formed on the sidewall parts ofthe tunnel insulating film 11, it may be formed on them depending on thematerial. Also, although the silicon oxide film 122 is formed also onthe sidewall parts of the stopper film 13 and the upper surface parts ofthe stopper film 13, it may not be formed on them depending on thematerial.

Also, in a nonvolatile memory, the silicon oxide film 122 having a largethickness, which is formed on the sidewall parts of the protruding parts101 a, increases the amount of dopant drawn out from channel edges 101b, causing fluctuation in the boost ratio.

Furthermore, a silicon oxide film formed using thermal oxidationexhibits a breakdown resistance lower than that of a silicon oxide filmusing the anisotropic oxidation under the substrate temperature of 300°C. or higher according to the modification of the first embodiment.

FIG. 15 illustrates a cross-sectional structure in comparative example2, which corresponds to the process step illustrated in FIG. 13 in themodification of the first embodiment. In this modification, as a resultof using isotropic oxidation instead of anisotropic oxidation, thethickness of the silicon oxide film 135 a forming the sidewall parts ofthe floating gate electrodes 12 and the control gate electrodes 33 andthe thickness of the silicon oxide film 135 b forming the bottom partsof slit parts 38 are substantially equal to each other, and accordinglythe floating gate electrodes 12 and the control gate electrodes 33become narrow. Here, although FIG. 15 illustrates the case where thetunnel insulating film 111 in the slit parts 38 is entirely oxidizeddown to its interface with the silicon substrate 1, only the surfaceparts of the tunnel insulating film 111 may be partially oxidized,depending on the material of the tunnel insulating film. Also, althoughthe silicon oxide film 35 a is formed also on the sidewall parts of aninter electrode insulating film 32, the sidewall parts of a mask film 34and the upper surface parts of the mask film 34, it may not be formeddepending on their materials.

(5) Second Embodiment

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to a secondembodiment of the present invention will be described. The secondembodiment corresponds to an example of applying the present inventionto transistor elements.

As illustrated in FIG. 16, a gate insulation film 52 is formed on thesurface of a semiconductor substrate 51. Then, materials for gateelectrodes, for example, a polysilicon layer doped with phosphorus, ametal compound, a metal silicide and the like are deposited on thesurface, and processed to be formed in the shape of gate electrodes 53(one of which is shown).

Using the anisotropic oxidation described in first embodiment, oxidizingions are generated by means of microwaves, radio-frequency waves orelectron cyclotron resonance, and a radio-frequency wave voltage of, forexample, 10 to 100 V is applied to the semiconductor substrate 51. Theoxidizing ions are accelerated toward the semiconductor substrate 51 andsubstantially perpendicularly enter the surface of the semiconductorsubstrate 51. Oxidation of the sidewalls of the gate electrode 53 issuppressed, making a silicon oxide film 63 on these parts be thin, and asilicon oxide film 62 on the exposed gate insulation film 52 and asilicon oxide film 61 on the gate electrode 53 are selectively oxidized,to make their film thicknesses be large. Here, although FIG. 16illustrates the case where the upper parts of the gate insulation film52 are oxidized, the gate insulation film 52 may be entirely oxidized,by performing the anisotropic oxidation longer or at higher temperature,or changing the material of the gate insulation film to such a materialthat is easily oxidized. Alternatively, the oxidation may extend to thesurface parts of the silicon substrate 51 in the exposed gate insulationfilm regions.

Consequently, the reliability of the gate insulation film 52 can beimproved while suppressing a decrease in the width of the gateelectrodes 53 due to the oxidation of the sidewalls of the gateelectrodes 53. In the subsequent process, an inter layer dielectric,contact holes, an interconnect layer are formed to complete transistorelements.

(6) Comparative Example 3 for the Second Embodiment

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according tocomparative example 3 for the second embodiment will be described.

As illustrated in FIG. 17, a gate insulation film 52 is formed on thesurface of a semiconductor substrate 51, and gate electrodes (only oneof which is shown) 53 are further formed on the surface.

The surface and sidewalls of the gate electrode 53 and the gateinsulation film 52 are oxidized using isotropic thermal oxidation, whichis different from the anisotropic oxidation in the first embodiment, toform silicon oxide films 161, 163 and 162 having film thicknesses equalto each other. As a result, the sidewalls of the gate electrode 53 areoxidized, resulting in the width of the gate electrode 53 being smaller.Here, although in FIG. 17, the upper parts of the gate insulation film52 are oxidized, the entire gate insulation film may be oxidizeddepending on the material of the gate insulation film. Alternatively,the oxidation may extend to the surface parts of the silicon substrate51 in the exposed gate insulation film regions.

(7) Modification 2 for the Second Embodiment

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according tomodification 2 for the second embodiment of the present invention willbe described. Modification 2 corresponds to an example of applying thepresent invention to transistor elements.

As illustrated in FIG. 18, a gate insulation film 72 is formed on thesurface of a semiconductor substrate 71. Then, materials for gateelectrodes, for example, a polysilicon layer doped with phosphorus, ametal compound, a metal silicide and the like are deposited on thesurface, and processed by RIE so that the width of gate electrodes 73(only one of which is shown) increases toward their lower parts. Inother words, the gate electrode 73 is processed so that it has a widthincreasing toward its interface with the gate insulation film 72.

Using the anisotropic oxidation described in the first embodimentoxidizing ions are generated by microwaves, radio-frequency waves orelectron cyclotron resonance, and a radio-frequency wave voltage of, forexample, 10 to 100 V is applied to the semiconductor substrate 71.Oxidizing ions are accelerated toward the semiconductor substrate 71 andsubstantially perpendicularly enter the surface of the semiconductorsubstrate 71. Oxidation of the sidewalls of the gate electrode 73 issuppressed, making the thickness of a silicon oxide film 83 on theseparts be small, and a silicon oxide film 82 on the exposed gateinsulation film 72 and a silicon oxide film 81 on the surface of thegate electrode 73 are selectively oxidized to make their filmthicknesses be large. The thickness of the silicon oxide film 83 on thesidewall parts of the gate electrode 73 gradually increases from theupper regions to the lower regions of the sidewall parts of the gateelectrode 73. Here, although FIG. 18 illustrates the case where theupper parts of the gate insulation film 72 are oxidized, the gateinsulation film 72 may be entirely oxidized, by performing theanisotropic oxidation longer or at higher temperature, or changing thematerial of the gate insulation film to such a material that is easilyoxidized. Alternatively, the oxidation may extend to the surface partsof the silicon substrate 71 in the exposed regions of the gateinsulation film.

Consequently, even where the width of the gate electrodes 73 increasestoward their lower parts and the electric field in the lower partsthereby increases, a decrease in the width of the gate electrodes 73 canbe suppressed, and the reliability of the gate insulation film 72 can beenhanced notably. In the subsequent process, an inter layer dielectricand contact holes are formed using known methods to complete transistorelements.

(8) Comparative Example 4 for Modification 2 for the Second Embodiment

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according tocomparative example 4 for modification 2 for a second embodiment of thepresent invention will be described. As in modification 2, comparativeexample 4 relates to a transistor element manufacturing method.

As illustrated in FIG. 19, a gate insulation film 72 is formed on thesurface of a semiconductor substrate 71. Then, materials for gateelectrodes, for example, a polysilicon layer doped with phosphorus, ametal compound, a metal silicide and the like are deposited on thesurface, and processed by RIE so that the width of gate electrodes 73(only one of which is shown) increases toward their lower parts.

Using isotropic thermal oxidation, which is different from modification2, a silicon oxide film 183 is formed on the sidewalls of the gateelectrode 73 and a silicon oxide film 182 is formed on the exposed gateinsulation film 72 so as to have thicknesses substantially equal to eachother by subjecting these parts to the same degree of oxidation. Here,although in FIG. 19, the upper regions of the gate insulation film 72are oxidized, the entire gate insulation film may be oxidized dependingon the material of the gate insulation film. Alternatively the oxidationmay extend to the surface parts of the silicon substrate 71 in theexposed gate insulation film regions.

Consequently, even where the width of the gate electrodes 73 increasestoward their lower parts, the width of the gate electrodes 73 becomessmall.

(9) Third Embodiment

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to a thirdembodiment of the present invention will be described. The thirdembodiment corresponds to an example of applying the present inventionto a nonvolatile memory, in which silicon nitride films are formed usinganisotropic nitridation.

As illustrated in FIGS. 20( a) and 20(b), through the process stepsillustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 in the first embodiment, a tunnelinsulating film 202 with a thickness of 10 nm, a polysilicon layer 203with a thickness of 150 nm, the polysilicon layer 203 being doped withphosphorus, a stopper film 204 and a mask film 205 are sequentiallydeposited by reduced-pressure CVD on the surface of a semiconductorsubstrate 201 doped with a desired impurity.

Here, FIGS. 20( a), 21(a), 22(a) and 23(a) correspond to cross-sectionalviews in the bit-line (channel-length) direction, and FIGS. 20( b),21(b), 22(b) and 23(b) correspond to cross-sectional views in theword-line (channel-width) direction.

The mask film 205, the stopper film 204, the polysilicon layer 203 andthe tunnel insulating film 202 are sequentially etched and the exposedregions of the semiconductor substrate 201 are etched to form isolationtrenches 206 with a depth of 150 nm.

Next, using the above-described anisotropic nitridation, nitriding ionsare generated by microwaves, radio-frequency waves or electron cyclotronresonance, and a radio-frequency wave voltage of, for example, 10 to 100V is applied to the semiconductor substrate 201. Consequently, thenitriding ions are accelerated toward the semiconductor substrate 201and substantially perpendicularly enter the semiconductor substrate 201.Consequently, nitridation of the sidewall parts of a semiconductorsubstrate 201 a, which is left unprocessed in the shape of protrusions(only one of which is shown), and a floating gate electrode 203 issuppressed, forming a silicon nitride film 207 having a small thicknessof, for example, mm, and the bottom parts of the isolation trenches 206are selectively nitrided, forming a silicon nitride film 208 having alarge thickness of, for example, 3 nm. Here, although in FIG. 20, thesilicon nitride film 207 is formed also on the sidewall parts of thetunnel insulating film 202, the sidewall parts of the stopper film 204,the sidewall parts of the mask film 205 and the upper surface part ofthe mask film 205, it may not be formed on them depending on theirmaterials.

Consequently, etching process damage in the bottom parts of theisolation trenches 206 can be removed with almost no reduction of thewidth (channel width) of the semiconductor substrate 201 a between theisolation trenches 206. As a result, punch-through can be effectivelysuppressed without deterioration of the reliability of the memory cells.

Moreover, in the process step of depositing a silicon insulating film209 formed of a silicon oxide film or a silicon oxynitride film, whichfills the isolation trenches 206, by means of, e.g., CVD after removalof the mask film 205, which is illustrated in FIGS. 21( a) and 21(b),the existence of the silicon nitride film 208 having a large filmthickness on the bottom parts of the isolation trenches 206 enables thestart time (so-called the incubation time) for deposition on the bottomparts to be delayed compared to the start time for deposition on thesidewall parts of the silicon nitride film 207. As a result, thedifference between deposition thicknesses on the sidewall and bottomparts due to the low deposition rate for the sidewall parts and the highdeposition rate for the bottom parts can be reduced, enabling depositingthe isolation insulating films conformally. Consequently, isolationinsulating films 209 having cavities 210 of the same shape around theircenters can be formed.

In the step shown in FIG. 20, the deposition of the stopper film 204 maybe omitted. In this case, in the step shown in FIG. 21, the polysiliconlayer 203 can be used as a stopper. The omission of the deposition ofthe stopper film 204 makes the etching process by RIE to be performedeasier.

In the subsequent process, as illustrated in FIGS. 22( a) and 22(b), thestopper film 204 is removed, and an inter electrode insulating film 211,a conductive layer 212 and a mask film 213 are deposited on thepolysilicon film 203.

Next, by means of RIE using a resist film (not shown), the mask film213, the conductive layer 212, the inter electrode insulating film 211and the polysilicon layer 203 are sequentially etched to form slit parts214 between the stacked cells. The tunnel insulating film 202 is anexample of a first film to be processed in the present invention, and afilm including the polysilicon layer 203, the inter electrode insulatingfilm 211, and the conductive layer 212 is an example of a second film tobe processed in the present invention.

Next, using anisotropic nitridation, nitriding ions are generated bymicrowaves, radio-frequency waves or electron cyclotron resonance, and aradio-frequency wave voltage of, for example, 10 to 100 V is applied tothe semiconductor substrate 201.

Consequently, nitriding ions are accelerated toward the semiconductorsubstrate 201 and substantially perpendicularly enter the semiconductorsubstrate 201, whereby nitridation of the sidewalls of floating gateelectrodes formed of the polysilicon film 203, the inter electrodeinsulating film 211 and control gate electrodes formed of the conductivelayer 212 is suppressed, and the exposed tunnel insulating film 202 isselectively nitrided.

Consequently, the silicon nitride film 217 having a small thickness of,for example, 1 nm is formed on the sidewalls of the slit parts 214, andthe silicon nitride film 216 having a large thickness of, for example, 3nm is formed on the upper surface of the tunnel insulating film 202,enabling the reliability of the tunnel insulating film 202 to beimproved while preventing interference between adjacent cells. Here,although FIG. 22 illustrates the case where the upper regions of thetunnel insulating film 202 are nitrided, the surface parts of thesilicon substrate 1 of the slit parts may be also nitrided, byperforming the anisotropic nitridation longer or at higher temperature,or changing the material of the tunnel insulating film to such amaterial that is easily nitrided. Also, although the silicon nitridefilm 217 is formed also on the sidewall parts of the inter electrodeinsulating film 211, the sidewall parts of the mask film 213 and theupper part of the mask film 213, it may not be formed on them dependingon their materials. In the subsequent process, as illustrated in FIG.23, a silicon oxide film 218 is formed, and then a cell diffusion layer221 is formed using ion implantation. Furthermore, a silicon oxide film219 and a silicon oxide film 220, which serve as an inter layerdielectric, are formed by reduced-pressure CVD so as to cover the entiresurface. Subsequently, an interconnect layer (not shown) and the likeare formed to complete nonvolatile memory cells.

According to the third embodiment, etching process damage in the bottomparts of the isolation trenches 206 can be removed with almost noreduction of the width (channel width) of the semiconductor substrate201 a between the isolation trenches 206. Consequently, punch-throughcan be effectively suppressed without deterioration of the reliabilityof the memory cells. Moreover, when depositing a silicon insulating filmin isolation trenches, a silicon nitride film having a large thicknessis formed on the bottom parts of the isolation trenches in advance,enabling the start time for deposition on the bottom parts of theisolation trenches be delayed compared to that of the sidewall parts,whereby the difference between the thicknesses of the films deposited onthe sidewall parts and the bottom parts can be reduced, enablingformation of isolation insulating films 209 having cavities of the sameshape around their centers. This enables to prevent interference betweenadjacent cells due to a parasitic capacitance in the word-line direction(channel width direction).

Also, according to the third embodiment, nitridation of the sidewallparts of the floating gate electrodes and the control gate electrodes issuppressed, enabling the reliability of the tunnel insulating film to beenhanced while preventing the interference between adjacent cells due tothe parasitic capacitance in the bit-line direction (channel lengthdirection). Also, positive fixed charge in the silicon nitride film 216can lower the resistance of the diffusion layer 221, increasing on-statecurrent for the memory cells, enabling a high-speed memory operation.

(10) Fourth Embodiment

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to a fourthembodiment of the present invention will be described. The fourthembodiment corresponds to an example of applying the present inventionto transistor elements.

As illustrated in FIG. 24, a gate insulation film 252 is formed on thesurface of a semiconductor substrate 251, and as a material for gateelectrodes, for example, a polysilicon layer doped with phosphorus isdeposited and processed by RIE to have the shape of gate electrodes 253(one of which is shown).

Using anisotropic nitridation, nitriding ions are generated bymicrowaves, radio-frequency waves or electron cyclotron resonance. Byapplying a radio-frequency wave voltage of, for example, 10 to 100 V tothe semiconductor substrate 251, the nitriding ions are acceleratedtoward the semiconductor substrate 251 and substantially perpendicularlyenter the semiconductor substrate 251.

Consequently, nitridation of the sidewall parts of the gate electrode253 is suppressed, making the thickness of the silicon nitride film 263on these parts be small, the exposed gate insulation film 252 isselectively nitrided, making the thickness of the silicon nitride film262 on these parts be large. Consequently, the reliability of the gateinsulation film 252 can be improved.

In the subsequent process, an inter layer dielectric, contact holes andan interconnect layer are formed to complete transistor elements.

Since the gate insulation film can be selectively nitrided whilesuppressing nitridation of the gate electrode sidewall parts, thereliability of the gate insulation film can be improved whilesuppressing a decrease in the width of the gate electrodes to avoidshort channel effect. Also, reliability deterioration of transistorelements due to stress caused by the silicon nitride film on the gateelectrode sidewall parts can be reduced.

(11) Fifth Embodiment

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to a fifthembodiment of the present invention will be described. The fifthembodiment corresponds to an example of applying the present inventionto transistor elements. This manufacturing method is applied to the casewhere a metal material with a limited tolerable manufacturing processtemperature is used for a material for gate electrodes.

As illustrated in FIG. 25, a polysilicon film with a thickness of, e.g.,150 nm, which becomes a dummy gate film, is deposited byreduced-pressure CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) on the surface of asemiconductor substrate 301 doped with a desired impurity. By means ofRIE using a resist mask (not shown), the polysilicon film is etched toform a dummy gate film 302 and make parts of the semiconductor substrate301 be exposed.

Next, as illustrated in FIG. 26, an insulating film, such as a siliconnitride film, for example, is deposited on the dummy gate film 302 andprocessed by RIE so that an insulating film 303 remains only on thesidewalls of the dummy gate film 302. Furthermore, after depositing aninsulating film 304, CMP is performed to planarize the surface to be atthe same level as the dummy gate film 302.

Next, as illustrated in FIG. 27, after removing the dummy gate film 302by etching, insulating films 305 and 306 each having a thickness of 2 nmare formed on the entire exposed surface. Here, the insulating film 305is formed on the surface of the semiconductor substrate 301 surroundedby the insulating film 303, and serves as a gate insulation film. Also,the insulating film 306 is formed on the sidewall parts of theinsulating film 303.

Furthermore, using anisotropic oxidation, oxidizing ions are generatedby means of microwaves, radio-frequency waves or electron cyclotronresonance, and a radio-frequency wave voltage of, for example, 10 to 100V is applied to the semiconductor substrate 301. The oxidizing ions areaccelerated toward the semiconductor substrate 301 and substantiallyperpendicularly enter the semiconductor substrate 301, whereby theoxidation of the insulating film 306 on the sidewall parts issuppressed, making the film thickness be small, and the gate insulationfilm 305 exposed on the bottom surface is selectively oxidized, makingoxidation reforming regions 307 (one of which is shown) on the gateinsulation film 305 have a large thickness.

In the subsequent process, as illustrated in FIG. 28, a metal or a metalcompound is deposited to form a gate electrode 308, and an inter layerdielectric, contact holes and an interconnect layer are formed tocomplete transistor elements.

According to the fifth embodiment, the gate insulation film 305 isselectively oxidized while suppressing oxidation of the sidewall partsof the insulating film 306, enabling the reliability of the gateinsulation film to be enhanced while suppressing a decrease in the widthof the gate electrodes to avoid short channel effect. Also, it ispossible to suppress oxidation of the gate electrodes 308 due to anoxidant diffusing from the insulating film 303 and/or the insulatingfilm 304 during the subsequent process, because surface parts of theinsulating film 306 on the sidewall parts are oxidized by oxidizingions.

(12) Sixth Embodiment

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to a sixthembodiment of the present invention will be described. The sixthembodiment corresponds to an example of applying the present inventionto a nonvolatile memory.

As illustrated in FIG. 29, a silicon nitride film 302 with a thicknessof 100 nm is formed by reduced-pressure CVD on the surface of asemiconductor substrate 301 doped with a desired impurity, and a maskfilm 303 for RIE is deposited by reduced-pressure CVD.

By means of RIE using a resist mask (not shown), the mask film 303 andthe silicon nitride film 302 are sequentially etched, and furthermore,the exposed regions of the semiconductor substrate 301 are etched toform isolation trenches 304 with a depth of 150 nm.

Next, as illustrated in FIG. 30, a silicon oxide film with a thicknessof 5 nm (not shown) is formed by thermal oxidation on the exposedsurface of the semiconductor substrate 301. A silicon oxide film 305with a thickness of 400 nm, which is an insulating film for isolation,is deposited on the entire surface by plasma CVD to fill the isolationtrenches 304. The surface parts of the silicon oxide film 305 areremoved by CMP to planarize the surface. At this stage, the surface ofthe silicon nitride film 302 is exposed.

Next, as illustrated in FIG. 31, the silicon nitride film 302 isselectively etched, making parts of the surface of the semiconductorsubstrate 301 be exposed.

A tunnel oxide film 306 having a thickness of 10 nm is formed on thesurface of the exposed surface of the semiconductor substrate 301 bythermal oxidation. Furthermore, using anisotropic nitridation, nitridingions are generated by microwaves, radio-frequency waves or electroncyclotron resonance, and a radio-frequency wave voltage of, for example,10 to 100 V is applied to the semiconductor substrate 301. The nitridingions are accelerated toward the semiconductor substrate 301 andsubstantially perpendicularly enter the semiconductor substrate 301.Consequently, nitridation of the sidewall parts of the silicon oxidefilm 305 is suppressed, making the thickness of the silicon nitride film308 on these parts be small, and the tunnel oxide film 306 isselectively nitrided, making the thickness of the silicon nitride film307 on these parts be large. As described above, the surface of thetunnel oxide film 306 is nitrided to form a silicon nitride film (orsilicon oxynitride film) 307.

In this embodiment, though the tunnel oxide film 306 is formed on thesurface of the exposed semiconductor substrate 301 by thermal oxidationand then anisotropic nitridation is performed, such sequence may bereversed, i.e., thermal oxidation may be performed after performinganisotropic nitridation. Furthermore, thermal annealing may be performedafter performing anisotropic nitridation. Alternatively, the thermaloxidation may be omitted.

In the subsequent process, as illustrated in FIG. 32, a polysilicon film309, which serves as floating gate electrodes, is formed, and an interelectrode insulating film 310 and control gate electrodes 311 are formedto complete a memory cell structure.

According to the sixth embodiment, as a result of using anisotropicnitridation, nitridation of the silicon oxide film 305 on the sidewallparts can be suppressed, enabling suppression of interference betweenadjacent cells due to a parasitic capacitance in the word-line direction(channel width direction). In particular, where the thickness of thesilicon nitride film 308 on the sidewalls, which is illustrated in FIG.31, is large, adjacent cells become closer to each other, causing aphenomenon in which they interfere with each other because of a siliconnitride film having a high permittivity. However, such phenomenon can besuppressed.

Also, since the surface of the tunnel insulating film 306 issufficiently nitrided by the anisotropic nitridation, this enables thereliability of the tunnel insulating film to be enhanced.

(13) Seventh Embodiment

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to a seventhembodiment of the present invention will be described. The seventhembodiment corresponds to an example of applying the present inventionto a nonvolatile memory in which control electrodes includes a metallayer or a metal compound layer, and an inter electrode insulating filmincludes a high-permittivity metal oxide film. In this specification, amaterial having a high-permittivity means such a material that has arelative permittivity of 7 or higher. This means that the permittivityof the material is approximately equal to or higher than that of siliconnitride.

Here, FIGS. 33( a), 34(a), 35(a), 36(a), 37(a) correspond tocross-sectional views in the bit-line (channel-length) and FIGS. 33( b),34(b), 35(b), 36(b) and 37(b) correspond to cross-sectional views in theword-line (channel-width) direction.

A tunnel insulating film 402 with a thickness of 10 nm is formed on thesurface of a semiconductor substrate 401 doped with a desired impurity,by thermal oxidation. A polysilicon layer 403 with a thickness of 150nm, the polysilicon layer 403 being doped with phosphorus and serving asfloating gate electrodes, a stopper film 404 used for CMP, and a maskfilm 405 used for RIE are deposited on the tunnel insulating film 402 byreduced-pressure CVD.

By means of RIE, the mask film 405, the stopper film 404, thepolysilicon layer 403 and the tunnel insulating film 402 aresequentially etched. The exposed regions of the semiconductor substrate401 are etched to form isolation trenches 406 with a depth of 150 nm.

Next, as illustrated in FIGS. 34( a) and 34(b), a silicon oxide film 407with a thickness of 400 nm, which is an insulating film for isolation,is deposited on the entire surface by plasma CVD to fill the isolationtrenches 406 with the silicon oxide film 407. The silicon oxide film 407and the mask film 405 are removed by CMP to planarize the surface. Here,the surface of the stopper film 404 is exposed.

Next, as illustrated in FIGS. 35( a) and 35(b), the exposed stopper film404 is selectively etched, and then the exposed surface of the siliconoxide film 407 is removed by etching using a diluted hydrofluoric acidsolution to make the sidewall surfaces of the polysilicon layer 403 beexposed. It is assumed that the height of the sidewalls is 70 nm. Byimmersing the substrate in a diluted hydrofluoric acid, a natural oxidefilm (not shown) on the surface of the polysilicon layer 403 is removed.

Next, as illustrated in FIGS. 36( a) and 36(b), a hafnia film isdeposited in a deposition reactor as an inter electrode insulating film411. Although in the seventh embodiment, a hafnia film is used for theinter electrode insulating film 411, a high-permittivity metal oxidefilm with a relative permittivity of 7 or more, such as Al₂O₃, ZrO₂,LaO₂, HfSiO, ZrSiO, HfAlO, ZrAlO or LaAlO, for example, may be formed.

A conductive layer 412 with a thickness of 100 nm, the conductive layer412 being having a two-layer structure of metal compounds consisting ofa polysilicon layer and a tungsten silicide layer and becoming controlgate electrodes, is formed by sequentially depositing the polysiliconlayer and the tungsten silicide layer by reduced-pressure CVD, and amask film 413 for RIE is further deposited by reduced-pressure CVD.

In the seventh embodiment, the conductive layer 412, which becomecontrol gate electrodes, have a two-layer structure consisting of apolysilicon layer and a tungsten silicide layer. However, it may have asingle-layer structure of, e.g., cobalt silicide (CoSi), nickel silicide(NiSi), tantalum nitride (TaN), titanium nitride (TiN), tungsten nitride(WN), tantalum silicon nitride (TaSiN) or titanium silicon nitride(TiSiN) or a laminate structure consisting of any combination thereof.

Subsequently, by means of RIE using a resist mask (not shown), the maskfilm 413, the conductive layer 412, the inter electrode insulating film411 and the polysilicon layer 403 are sequentially etched to form slitparts 420 between the stacked cells. The tunnel insulating film 402 isan example of a first film to be processed in the present invention, anda film including the polysilicon layer 403, the inter electrodeinsulating film 411, and the conductive layer 412 is an example of asecond film to be processed in the present invention.

Next, as illustrated in FIGS. 37( a) and 37(b), using anisotropicoxidation, oxidizing ions are generated from a gas mixture of oxygen andhydrogen by microwaves, radio-frequency waves or electron cyclotronresonance, and a radio-frequency wave voltage of, for example, 10 to 100V is applied to the semiconductor substrate. Consequently, the oxidizingions are accelerated toward the semiconductor substrate, andsubstantially perpendicularly enter the semiconductor substrate, forminga silicon oxide film 421 with a thickness of around 5 nm, which iscalled as an electrode sidewall oxide film, on the exposed surface.Here, oxidation of the sidewall parts of the polysilicon layer 413 asthe floating gate electrodes, and the sidewall parts of the conductivelayer 412 as the control gate electrodes is suppressed, enablingselective oxidation of the exposed tunnel insulating film 402. Here,although FIG. 37 illustrates the case where the upper regions of thetunnel insulating film 402 are oxidized, the surface parts of thesilicon substrate 1 of the slit parts may be also oxidized, byperforming the anisotropic oxidation longer or at higher temperature, orchanging the material of the tunnel insulating film to such a materialthat is easily oxidized. In this case, since the distance between thelower end of each floating gate electrode 403 and the surface of thesilicon substrate 401 can be increased, the electric field is reduced,enabling the reliability of the memory cells to be further enhanced.Although in FIG. 37, the silicon oxide film 421 is formed also on thesidewall parts of the inter electrode insulating film 411, the sidewallparts of the mask film 413 and the upper surface part of the mask film413, it may not be formed on them depending on their materials.

Here, as a result of performing anisotropic oxidation using a gasmixture of hydrogen and oxygen, oxidation of the conductive layer 412formed of a metal compound, which serves as control gate electrodes, issuppressed, enabling erroneous memory operation due to an increase inthe resistance of the control gate electrodes to be avoided. Also, wherethe inter electrode insulating film 411 is formed of high-permittivitymetal oxide as in this embodiment, reduction by means of hydrogen, whichresults in deterioration of the insulation property, can be suppressed.Accordingly, the reliability of the tunnel insulating film 402 can beimproved while suppressing an increase in the electrode resistance anddeterioration of the inter electrode insulating film.

Here, although anisotropic oxidation is performed using a gas mixture ofhydrogen and oxygen, anisotropic oxidation may be performed using anoxygen gas not containing hydrogen.

In the subsequent process, a cell diffusion layer 424 is formed usingion implantation. Furthermore, a silicon oxynitride film 422 and asilicon oxide film 423, which serve as an inter layer dielectric, areformed by reduced-pressure CVD so as to cover the entire surface,thereby completing nonvolatile memory cells.

According to the seventh embodiment, even where the inter electrodeinsulating film has a reducing property due to hydrogen, the reliabilityof the tunnel insulating film can be enhanced while suppressinginsulation property deterioration due to reduction caused by the interelectrode insulating film.

(14) Eighth Embodiment

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to an eighthembodiment of the present invention will be described. The eighthembodiment corresponds to an example of applying the present inventionto a nonvolatile memory. It is assumed that: FIGS. 38( a), 39(a), 40(a),41(a), 42(a) and 43(a) are cross-sectional views in the word-line(channel-width) direction; and FIGS. 38( b), 39(b), 40(b), 41(b), 42(b)and 43(b) correspond to cross-sectional views in the bit-line direction(channel-length).

First, as illustrated in FIGS. 38( a) and 38(b), a mask material 502 forisolation process is deposited on the surface of a semiconductorsubstrate 501 doped with a desired impurity, by means of CVD. By meansof RIE using a resist mask (not shown), the mask material 502 is etched,and the exposed regions of the semiconductor substrate 501 are etched,forming isolation trenches 503 with a depth of 100 nm. It is assumedthat the width of the isolation trenches 503 and the width of theelement-forming regions are both approximately 40 nm.

Next, as illustrated in FIGS. 39( a) and 39(b), a silicon oxide film 504for isolation is deposited on the entire surface to completely fill theisolation trenches 503. Subsequently, the surface parts of the siliconoxide film 504 are removed by CMP to planarize the surface.Consequently, the surface of the mask material 502 is exposed.

Next, as illustrated in FIGS. 40( a) and 40(b), the exposed maskmaterial 502 is selectively removed by etching using, e.g., a chemicalsolution. Furthermore, the exposed surface of the silicon oxide film 504is removed by etching using a diluted hydrofluoric acid solution to beat the same level as the semiconductor substrate 501.

Next, as illustrated in FIGS. 41( a) and 41(b), a tunnel oxide film 505with a thickness of 3 nm is formed by ALD (Atomic Layer Deposition). Asilicon nitride film 506 with a thickness of 5 nm, which serves as acharge storage layer, is deposited by CVD, and an alumina film 507 witha thickness of 30 nm, which serves as a charge block layer, is depositedby ALD (Atomic Layer Deposition). Furthermore, a conductive layer 508with a thickness of 100 nm, the conductive layer 508 having a two-layerstructure consisting of a polysilicon layer and a tungsten silicidelayer, and becoming control gate electrodes, is deposited by CVD.

Next, as illustrated in FIGS. 42( a) and 42(b), a silicon nitride film509, which serves as a mask material for RIE, is deposited by CVD. Bymeans of RIE using a resist mask (not shown) having a patternperpendicular to that of the isolation trenches 503, the mask material509, the conductive layer 508 as control gate electrodes, the aluminafilm 507 as a charge block layer, and the silicon nitride film 506 as acharge storage layer are sequentially etched to form control gateelectrodes. It is assumed that the width of the silicon nitride film 506and the distance between adjacent parts of the silicon nitride film 506are both approximately 40 nm. The tunnel oxide film 505 is an example ofa first film to be processed in the present invention, and a filmincluding the silicon nitride film 506, the alumina film 507, and theconductive layer 508 is an example of a second film to be processed inthe present invention.

Here, the silicon nitride film 506 as a charge storage layer may beformed in the shape in which the width increases toward its lower part,i.e., what is called a skirt shape.

Next, as illustrated in FIGS. 43( a) and (b), using anisotropicoxidation, oxidizing ions are generated from a gas mixture bymicrowaves, radio-frequency waves or electron cyclotron resonance, and aradio-frequency wave voltage of, for example, 10 to 100 V is applied tothe semiconductor substrate. Consequently, oxidizing ions areaccelerated toward the semiconductor substrate 501 and substantiallyperpendicularly enter the semiconductor substrate 501, whereby oxidationof the sidewalls of the silicon nitride film 506 as a charge storagelayer and the conductive layer 508 as control gate electrodes issuppressed, and the exposed tunnel insulating film 505 is selectivelyoxidized to subject the tunnel insulating film 505 to oxidationreforming, forming a reformed region 512. Here, although FIG. 43illustrates the case where the exposed tunnel insulating film 505 isentirely changed into the reform region 512, only the surface parts ofthe tunnel insulating film 505 may be reformed, by performing theanisotropic oxidation shorter or at lower temperature, or changing thematerial of the tunnel insulating film to such a material that is noteasily oxidized. Alternatively, an oxide layer may be formed on thesurface parts of the silicon substrate 501 in the exposed regions of thetunnel insulating film.

Consequently, it is possible to suppress oxidation of the sidewall partsof the conductive layer 508 as control gate electrodes to avoid adecrease in the width of the control gate electrodes, and furthermore,to prevent the shapes of parts of an impurity diffusion layer fromvarying due to the oxide layer formed on the sidewall parts of thecontrol gate electrodes. In addition, the exposed parts of the tunnelinsulating film 505 are reformed by the oxidizing ions, which canimprove the reliability of the tunnel insulating film 505.

Where the silicon nitride film 506 as a charge storage layer have askirt shape, the bottom part of the film is selectively oxidized to havea large thickness, enabling suppression of erroneous cell operation andvariation in cell operation characteristics.

In the subsequent process, a gate sidewall oxide film 510 with athickness of 10 nm is formed by CVD. An impurity diffusion layer 513 isformed by performing ion implantation and thermal annealing. An interlater insulating film 511 is formed using, e.g., CVD, and furthermore,an interconnect layer, etc., (not shown) is formed to completenonvolatile memory cells.

(15) Ninth Embodiment

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to a ninthembodiment of the present invention will be described. The ninthembodiment corresponds to an example of applying the present inventionto an apparatus in which an SOI-structure region is formed on a part ofthe semiconductor substrate to form a peripheral circuit region on thesemiconductor substrate, and a memory cell region on the SOI-structureregion of the same semiconductor substrate.

As illustrated in FIG. 44, in order to provide a level differencebetween a peripheral circuit region 602 and a memory cell region 603, amask material (not shown), which is formed of, e.g., a silicon nitridefilm, is deposited on a semiconductor substrate 601 by CVD.

By means of RIE using a resist mask (not shown), the mask material isetched to be partially exposed. Using this mask material, the exposedregion of the semiconductor substrate 601 is removed by etching to forma peripheral circuit region 602, which is a planar part where aperipheral circuit is to be formed, and a memory cell region 603, whichis a planar part where memory cells are to be formed, there being alevel difference of 50 nm between the peripheral circuit region 602 andthe memory cell region 603. As illustrated in FIG. 44, the level of theupper surface of the peripheral circuit region 602 is set to be higherthan the level of the upper surface of the memory cell region 603. Theplanar part where a peripheral circuit is to be formed is an example ofa first planar part of the present invention, and the planar part wherememory cells are to be formed is an example of a second planar part ofthe present invention.

Using anisotropic oxidation, oxidizing ions are generated by microwaves,radio-frequency waves or electron cyclotron resonance, and aradio-frequency wave voltage of, for example, 10 to 100 V is applied tothe semiconductor substrate 601. Consequently, the oxidizing ions areaccelerated toward the semiconductor substrate 601 and substantiallyperpendicularly enter the semiconductor substrate 601. In FIG. 45, whilesuppressing oxidation of a sidewall part 606 of the stepped structure,the peripheral circuit region 602 and the memory cell region 603, whichare planar parts, are selectively oxidized to form silicon oxide films604 and 605 each having a thickness of 10 nm in the peripheral circuitregion 602 and the memory cell region 603, respectively. The sidewallpart 606 is an example of a step part according to the presentinvention, which is located at the boundary between the peripheralcircuit region 602 and the memory cell region 603.

Although the silicon oxide films 604 and 605 are formed usinganisotropic oxidation here, silicon nitride films may be formedsimilarly in the peripheral circuit region 602 and the memory cellregion 603 using anisotropic nitridation.

Subsequently, chemical etching using a diluted hydrofluoric acidsolution or a hot phosphoric acid solution is performed to the extentthat a sidewall oxide film formed on the sidewall part 606 of thestepped structure is removed. Furthermore, as illustrated in FIG. 46, anamorphous silicon film 607 having a thickness of 100 nm is deposited onthe entire surface using reduced-pressure CVD. Annealing is performed tosingle-crystallize the amorphous silicon film 607. The amorphous layer607 is an example of a semiconductor layer according to the presentinvention.

As illustrated in FIG. 47, the amorphous silicon film 607 is subjectedto CMP to remove the amorphous silicon film 607 on the peripheralcircuit region 602, and to remove a part of the amorphous silicon film607 on the memory cell region 603, thereby planarizing the upper surfaceof the amorphous silicon film 607, and making the upper surface of thesilicon oxide film 604 on the peripheral circuit region 602 be exposed.Consequently, the height of the upper surface of the amorphous siliconfilm 607 on the memory cell region 603 is lowered to the height of theupper surface of the silicon oxide film 604 on the peripheral circuitregion 602. This makes the height of the upper surface of the amorphoussilicon film 607 on the memory cell region 603 be substantially equal tothe height of the upper surface of the silicon oxide film 604 on theperipheral circuit region 602. Through the subsequent process, memorycells are formed in the memory cell region 602 and peripheral circuitsare formed in the peripheral circuit region 603 to complete asemiconductor device.

According to the ninth embodiment, a silicon oxide film formed on thesidewall part 606, which provides a level difference, is removed, andfurthermore, oxidation or nitridation of the sidewall part 606 issuppressed when performing epitaxial growth on the semiconductorsubstrate 601, enabling suppressing displacement of the position of thestep part due to forming and removing the silicon oxide film or thesilicon nitride film on this part. Consequently, there is no fear ofhindrance for forming circuits using the position of the sidewall part606 as a reference.

All the above embodiments are mere examples, and various modificationscan be made within the technical scope of the present invention. Forexample, anisotropic oxidation in the respective embodiments may besubstituted with anisotropic nitridation, or anisotropic nitridation maybe performed as a substitute for anisotropic oxidation.

Also, aspects of a method of manufacturing a semiconductor deviceaccording to the present invention include methods described below.

The aspects of the present invention include, for example, a method ofmanufacturing a semiconductor device comprising: forming a first film,which becomes a dummy gate film, on a semiconductor substrate; removinga predetermined region of the first film by etching to form a dummy gatefilm and make a surface of the semiconductor substrate be partiallyexposed; forming a first insulating film so as to cover the dummy gatefilm; performing etching of the first insulating film to form a sidewallinsulating film, which includes the first insulating film, on a sidesurface of the dummy gate film; forming a second insulating film so asto cover the dummy gate film and the sidewall insulating film;planarizing a surface part of the second insulating film to make anupper part of the dummy gate film be exposed; removing the dummy gatefilm to form a slit part including sidewall parts including sidesurfaces of the sidewall insulating film and a bottom part including asurface of the semiconductor substrate; forming a third insulating film,which becomes a part of a gate insulation film, at least on a bottomsurface of the slit part; applying a predetermined voltage to thesemiconductor substrate to supply oxidizing ions contained in plasmagenerated by any of a microwave, a radio-frequency wave and electroncyclotron resonance or nitriding ions contained in the plasma to thesidewall parts of the slit part and the bottom part of the slit part,thereby performing anisotropic oxidation or anisotropic nitridation ofthe sidewall parts of the slit part and the bottom part of the slitpart; and depositing a conductive material as a material for a gateelectrode so as to fill the slit part.

Also, the aspects of the present invention include, for example, amethod of manufacturing a semiconductor device comprising: forming afirst film, which becomes a dummy gate film, on a semiconductorsubstrate; removing the first film and a part of the semiconductorsubstrate, the part having a predetermined depth, in a predeterminedregion by etching to form a dummy gate film and forming a plurality ofisolation trenches along a first direction; filling the plurality ofisolation trenches with a first insulating film; planarizing a surfacepart of the first insulating film to make an upper surface of the dummygate film be exposed; removing the dummy gate film to form a slit partincluding sidewall parts including side surfaces of the first insulatingfilm and a bottom part including a surface of the semiconductorsubstrate; forming a second insulating film, which becomes a part of atunnel insulating film, at least on a bottom surface of the slit part;applying a predetermined voltage to the semiconductor substrate tosupply oxidizing ions contained in plasma generated by any of amicrowave, a radio-frequency wave and electron cyclotron resonance ornitriding ions contained in the plasma to the sidewall parts of the slitpart and the bottom part of the slit part, thereby performinganisotropic oxidation or anisotropic nitridation of the sidewall partsof the slit part and the bottom part of the slit part, thereby forming atunnel insulating film; forming a floating gate electrode on the tunnelinsulating film; and sequentially forming an inter electrode insulatingfilm and a control gate electrode on the floating gate electrode and thefirst insulating film.

As described above, the embodiments of a method of manufacturing asemiconductor device according to the present invention enable problemsarising when performing isotropic oxidation or nitridation of thesidewall parts and bottom parts of the isolation trenches and/or thegate electrodes to be solved.

Although specific examples of aspects of the present invention have beendescribed by the first to ninth embodiments, the present invention isnot limited to these embodiments.

1. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, the method comprising: forming, on a surface of a semiconductor substrate, an isolation trench including sidewall parts and a bottom part, or a stepped structure including a first planar part, a second planar part, and a step part located at a boundary between the first planar part and the second planar part; and supplying oxidizing ions or nitriding ions contained in plasma generated by a microwave, a radio-frequency wave, or electron cyclotron resonance to the sidewall parts and the bottom part of the isolation trench or the first and second planar parts and the step part of the stepped structure by applying a predetermined voltage to the semiconductor substrate, to perform anisotropic oxidation or anisotropic nitridation of the sidewall parts and the bottom part of the isolation trench or the first and second planar parts and the step part of the stepped structure.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the isolation trench includes a lower region whose width decreases toward the bottom part.
 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein an oxide film or a nitride film is formed on the sidewall parts and the bottom part of the isolation trench by the anisotropic oxidation or the anisotropic nitridation, the thickness of the oxide film or the nitride film formed on the bottom part being larger than the thickness of the oxide film or the nitride film formed on the sidewall parts.
 4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: forming a tunnel insulating film, a first conductive film as a material for a floating gate electrode, and a mask film, sequentially on the surface of the semiconductor substrate, before forming the isolation trench on the semiconductor substrate, wherein the isolation trench is formed using the mask film, and the anisotropic oxidation or the anisotropic nitridation is performed in a state in which the mask film exists.
 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein a pressure in a region where the plasma is generated is equal to or smaller than 2 kPa.
 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein a temperature of the semiconductor substrate during the anisotropic oxidation or the anisotropic nitridation is equal to or higher than 300° C.
 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first planar part is provided in a peripheral circuit region where a peripheral circuit is to be formed, the second planar part is provided in a memory cell region where a memory cell is to be formed, and the height of an upper surface of the first planar part is higher than the height of an upper surface of the second planar part.
 8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising: forming a semiconductor layer on the upper surfaces of the first and second planar parts, after the anisotropic oxidation or the anisotropic nitridation; and planarizing the semiconductor layer to make the upper surface of the first planar part be exposed, and lower the height of an upper surface of the semiconductor layer on the second planar part to the height of the upper surface of the first planar part.
 9. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, the method comprising: forming a gate insulation film on a semiconductor substrate; forming a conductive film as a material for a gate electrode, on the gate insulation film; etching the conductive film to form the gate electrode including sidewall parts, and make a part of a surface of the gate insulation film be exposed; and supplying oxidizing ions or nitriding ions contained in plasma generated by a microwave, a radio-frequency wave, or electron cyclotron resonance to the sidewall parts of the gate electrode and a region where the gate insulation film is exposed, by applying a predetermined voltage to the semiconductor substrate, to perform anisotropic oxidation or anisotropic nitridation of the sidewall parts of the gate electrode and the region where the gate insulation film is exposed.
 10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the gate electrode includes a lower region whose width increases toward an interface between the gate electrode and the gate insulation film.
 11. The method according to claim 9, wherein an oxide film or a nitride film is formed on the sidewall parts of the gate electrode and the region where the gate insulation film is exposed, by the anisotropic oxidation or the anisotropic nitridation, the thickness of the oxide film or the nitride film formed on the region where the gate insulation film is exposed being larger than the thickness of the oxide film or the nitride film formed on the sidewall parts.
 12. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, the method comprising: forming a first film to be processed, on a semiconductor substrate; forming a second film to be processed, on the first film; removing a predetermined region of the second film by etching, to form a slit part including sidewall parts and a bottom part, the sidewall parts including side surfaces of the second film, and the bottom part including an upper surface of the first film; and supplying oxidizing ions or nitriding ions contained in plasma generated by a microwave, a radio-frequency wave, or electron cyclotron resonance to the sidewall parts and the bottom part of the slit part by applying a predetermined voltage to the semiconductor substrate, to perform anisotropic oxidation or anisotropic nitridation of the sidewall parts and the bottom part of the slit part.
 13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the first film includes a tunnel insulating film formed on a surface of the semiconductor substrate, and the second film includes a first conductive film as a floating gate electrode, an inter electrode insulating film, and a second conductive film as a control gate electrode, which are sequentially formed on an upper surface of the tunnel insulating film.
 14. The method according to claim 13, further comprising: removing, after forming the first conductive film, a predetermined region of the first conductive film, the tunnel insulating film, and a part of the semiconductor substrate by etching, to form plural isolation trenches, the semiconductor substrate being etched down to a predetermined depth by the etching; and burying an insulating film in the isolation trenches, wherein each of the isolation trenches is formed along a first direction and includes sidewall parts and a bottom part, and the slit part is formed along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction and includes the sidewall parts and the bottom part, the sidewall parts including side surfaces of the second conductive film, the inter electrode insulating film, and the first conductive film, and the bottom surface including a upper surface of the tunnel insulating film.
 15. The method according to claim 14, further comprising: supplying oxidizing ions or nitriding ions contained in plasma generated by a microwave, a radio-frequency wave, or electron cyclotron resonance to the sidewall parts and the bottom parts of the isolation trenches by applying a predetermined voltage to the semiconductor substrate, to perform anisotropic oxidation or anisotropic nitridation of the sidewall parts and the bottom parts of the isolation trenches.
 16. The method according to claim 12, wherein the first film includes a tunnel insulating film formed on a surface of the semiconductor substrate, and the second film includes a first conductive film as a floating gate electrode, a high-permittivity metal oxide film as an inter electrode insulating film, and a second conductive film as a control gate electrode, which are sequentially formed on an upper surface of the tunnel insulating film.
 17. The method according to claim 16, further comprising: removing, after forming the first conductive film, a predetermined region of the first conductive film, the tunnel insulating film, and a part of the semiconductor substrate by etching, to form plural isolation trenches, the semiconductor substrate being etched down to a predetermined depth by the etching; burying a first insulating film in the isolation trenches; and burying a second insulating film in the slit part, wherein each of the isolation trenches is formed along a first direction and includes sidewall parts and a bottom part, and the slit part is formed along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction and includes the sidewall parts and the bottom part, the sidewall parts including side surfaces of the second conductive film, the high-permittivity metal oxide film, and the first conductive film, and the bottom part including a surface of the tunnel insulating film.
 18. The method according to claim 12, wherein the first film includes a tunnel insulating film formed on a surface of the semiconductor substrate, and the second film includes a charge storage layer, a charge block layer, and a first conductive film as a control gate electrode, which are sequentially formed on an upper surface of the tunnel insulating film.
 19. The method according to claim 18, further comprising: forming, before forming the tunnel insulating film, plural isolation trenches on the surface of the semiconductor substrate; burying a first insulating film in the isolation trenches; and burying a second insulating film in the slit part, wherein each of the isolation trenches is formed along a first direction and includes sidewall parts and a bottom part, and the slit part is formed along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction and includes the sidewall parts and the bottom part, the sidewall parts including side surfaces of the first conductive film, the charge block layer, and the charge storage layer, and the bottom part including the upper surface of the tunnel insulating film.
 20. The method according to claim 12, further comprising: forming a mask film on the second film, after forming the second film wherein the slit part is formed using the mask film, and the anisotropic oxidation or the anisotropic nitridation is performed in a state in which the mask film exists. 